crokinole (thing)

A physicalgame in the category of Shuffleboard. Crokinole is played on a round wooden board divided into three concentric circles with a set of rubber-coated posts around the outside of the inner circle and a small hole in the center just large enough to accommodate one of the playing pieces (wooden disks slightly larger than checkers). There is a small flat area outside the third circle and a gutter around the outside.

The outer circle is divided into four quadrants which mark the shooting regions for each player. The game can be played by two players sitting in opposite positions or four players (two teams of two) with partners sitting in opposite positions or by four players playing individually. In each case there are 24 disks in different colors for each player or team, divided evenly among the players.

Each player, on his turn, places one of his unused disks on the outer circle within his quadrant, and flicks it (as opposed to pushing it) with his finger. If there are any opponents' disks on the board, the disk must touch one of them or cause another disk to touch one of them, or else that disk and all disks touched that turn are removed from the board. An optional rule some players use is that if there are no opponents' disks on the board, the disk must end up at least partially within the center circle or it and all disks touched that turn are removed. Ideally, you want your disks in the middle of the board and your opponents' disks off the board.

In any case, any disks which touch or cross the outer circle are removed (this includes the occasional disk which bounces across the gutter and back). Also, any disk which falls into the center hole is set aside for scoring later.

Once all 24 disks have been played, the scores for disks which remain in play are added up. Each disk in the outer circle scores 5, each disk within (not touching) the second circle scores 10, each disk within (not touching) the inner circle scores 15, and each disk which landed in the center hole scores 20. Whichever player or team scored the most in the round has the difference in the scores added to their running total. (In a four-player individual game, each player but the lowest-scoring one scores the difference between his score for the round and that of the lowest-scoring player.)